…As Church, houses submerge
By Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti
Five persons narrowly cheated death on Ureje River in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday as the river overflowed its bank and wreaked havoc on the surrounding buildings and other property.
The five persons were said to be coming from Ureje area, and were making frantic efforts to navigate the heavily flooded bridge into the town, when they were overran by fast flowing water and drowned into its valley along Federal Polytechnic road in Ado Ekiti.
Also, commuters entering Ado Ekiti and those traveling out of the metropolis to another town or state were trapped for several hours, waiting for the water level to subside before crossing.
This caused a serious gridlock that extended from the Ureje bridge to Saint Paul’s Anglican Church at Odo Ado, Ado Ekiti, a distance of about two and half kilometres.
An eyewiness told journalists in Ado Ekiti, on Wednesday, that the victims, who could have been drowned by water were hurriedly saved by some Hausa divers, who waited at the bridge to help the elderly people to cross the flooded spot.
“The five victims were struggling to cross the bridge with high and heavily tidal water level when suddenly they were overran and washed away by water. The people who were waiting at the far end of the bridge quickly raised a loud alarm which attracted the Hausa divers who quickly jumped into the river to save them”.
Meanwhile, property worth several millions of naira were damaged in areas like Eminrin Estate, Adebayo, Ita Eku and Ilupeju Avenue, when the flood surged into some buildings during the heavy downpour.
Around the flooded bridge, several property were damaged, including cars that were parked near the area, while a block industry and a nearby church were totally submerged by water.
In Eminrin Estate alone, about 10 buildings were affected, while the occupants lost valuables worth millions of naira.
One of the victims, Mrs Julianah Ajulo, said her family lost property worth over N3 million to the flooding, calling on government to render help to bail them out of the horrible situation.
“In fact, we were happy when Governor Biodun Oyebanji came to dredge Ureje River here in Eminrin. We never knew we could witness this again. This is the third time in 10 years this will happen to us. We appeal to the government to do something urgent about our situation. We are seriously pained by this incident”.
